1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic part and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As representative electronic parts using a ceramic material, there are provided a capacitor, an inductor, a piezoelectric element, a varistor, or a thermistor.
Among these ceramic electronic parts, multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) have a small size, secure high capacitance, and have ease of mountability.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors are chip type condensers performing a main function of being charged with or discharging electricity while being mounted on a circuit board of various electronic products, such as a computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, or the like. Multilayer ceramic capacitors have several sizes and lamination types depending on intended usage and capacity thereof.
In particular, as the trend has been for electronic products to be smaller, ultra-miniaturization and the provision of ultra-high capacity to multi-layer ceramic capacitors have been also required.
For this reason, a multilayer ceramic capacitor in which dielectric layers and internal electrodes are thinned for the ultra-miniaturization of products and a large number of dielectric layers are laminated to provide ultra-high capacity therein has been manufactured.
As such, in order to satisfy conditions for ultra-miniaturization and ultra-high capacity of multilayer ceramic capacitors, it is important to prevent degradation of the insulation resistance (IR) and achieve low equivalent series inductance (ESL) characteristics.
The degradation of insulation resistance occurs when plating liquid permeates into the internal electrodes through the dielectric layers. In order to prevent this, a margin part having a predetermined size is prepared on the dielectric layer, around the internal electrode. Here, only a portion of the margin part is formed as a connection portion for electrically connecting the internal electrode to an external electrode.
Since the characteristics and reliability of the multilayer ceramic capacitor are influenced, depending on how the connection portion is designed, research in relation to these factors is continuously under way.
For example, when the connection portion is smaller than the external electrode, a degradation of insulation resistance may be prevented, but contact properties with the external electrode may be deteriorated, resulting in short circuits between electrical connections. When the connection portions are larger than the external electrodes, contact properties with regard to the external electrodes are improved; however, a plating liquid may still permeate thereinto.